Mrs. Crabtree's Counseling Corner

I was shocked to learn that many of my students did not know what Peer Pressure meant. As if on cue,  I found this awesome book by Julia Cook to help me illustrate it.  The kids really enjoyed it!  I did it with Grades 3-5, and for Grades 1-2 we focused on making friends.  In order to make my life easier, I try hard to stick with the same themes for all the grade levels.  I hope you find this l esson plan  helpful as you move forward in your year.  

I have always felt like I had a good handle on the first Guidance Lesson for the Year.  This just comprises my lesson called " The School Counselor is. .."  Well, I have been doing this for 8 years, and my own daughter whose now a 5th grader told me, "Mom, I've heard that lesson since Kindergarten!"  Crushed, I decided I better spice it up a little.  So in the spirit of spicing it up, and OPGES I decided I'd let the students tell me what they think I do.  Yes you heard me!  I surveyed my students the very first week of school.  Now, let me back up and say that I only did this with 3-5.  I figured they've heard the same spill for years too, but the little guys need to hear my original lesson. I gave each student a post it, and told them to tell me what they think I do.  I explained they could recall a lesson I have taught, or how I've helped them etc.  If they were new, I told them to tell me what they thought I might do, or they were a...

After 8 years as a School Counselor I finally did it!  I made a brochure for my parents!  My hope is that parents will be able to see my roles in the school and utilize me in the best way possible. I want them to see me as  resource, and not just a "Guidance Teacher." Hopefully you will find it helpful as you develop one for your parents.

Having a growth mindset is one of the first things that the Seven Habits teaches us.  "I have a can do attitude."  In this lesson , I plan to assess how the kids are grasping the concepts of having  a growth versus a fixed mindset.  I've taken common themes and phrases in each mindset, and the students will cut and sort them.  I will allow them to work in groups in hopes that they will have a meaningful discussion as they work.

Last week, we learned about having a Growth Mindset.  This week, I am hoping to go a little further with this topic by using this "Star Wars' clip.  I found this amazing website called Step-up 2 thrive .  This site does a lot of work with Mindset and is helping me find resources to support what I am doing in the classroom.  LESSON PLAN:  REVISED TO MEET MY STUDENTS' NEEDS Tell students to do the following: (WORKSHEET PROVIDED ) 1.  On the side labeled,   On the side labeled, "Things that are hard", list things that you struggle with, or challenge you.  In the column labeled, "Things I say to myself about doing these things," have students write phrases they may say to themselves when something becomes difficult.  Here are a few examples:  I can't Too Hard There's no Way It's too much This is gonna take forever 2..  Show video clip:  3.  After viewing clip, Have students answer the following questions...

I like using this video to discuss issues with social isolation, and since it's Dr. Seuss' Birthday, I felt it only appropriate.   Guiding Questions: What are the guiding questions for this lesson? Have you ever been "left out"? How did it feel? Why do people sometimes exclude others? How did the Sneetches change from the beginning of the story to the end? Why did the author probably write this text? Is there a lesson we can learn from it? What is the difference between Sneetches with stars and those without? **adapted from CPalms